Question details
Morwell electorate
(1646) My question is for the Minister for Energy and Resources. My question is: what is the cost of the subsidy the state government is providing the owners of Yallourn power station to continue operating until 2028? The Yallourn power station in my electorate of Morwell has long provided and still provides 20 per cent of Victoria’s base load power every day. As we know, it is slated to close almost exactly two years from now, in 2028, yet AEMO and the Auditor-General and energy experts have warned Victoria will face certain power shortages when Yallourn comes offline because there will not be enough base load power generated by renewables to make up for the shortfall. All this is because the minister and the Labor government have led with ideology ahead of common sense and are hell-bent on ripping the state off reliable, affordable, coal-fired power before alternative power sources have been shored up. Minister, what is the cost of the subsidy the state government is providing the owners of Yallourn power station to continue operating?
In 2021, the Victorian Government (the Government) agreed to support EnergyAustralia with its closure of the Yallourn power station in 2028, four years earlier than scheduled.
This agreement ensures greater certainty for the reliable and secure supply of electricity in Victoria while renewable energy capacity grows, as well as providing certainty for its workers, community and region.
The agreement includes a commitment for the Yallourn Power Station to stay open until 2028 and offers a safety net to minimise the risk of an unplanned exit. The safety net is designed to minimise market distortions and is a mechanism of last resort to ensure Yallourn’s energy can be available if needed.
It is unfortunate that the Opposition are clinging to the past with brown coal. The Yallourn Power Station in particular is our oldest coal fired generator, and it is unreliable. All an extension of coal fired power in Victoria would do is create uncertainty for communities and increase the risk of blackouts for all Victorians
That’s why the Government has a large body of work supporting an orderly energy transition. We have laid the groundwork for the creation of affordable and reliable renewable energy through our energy policy framework, which includes:
- emissions reduction targets of 75 per cent to 80 per cent (on 2005 levels) by 2035 and net zero by 2045,
- Exceeding our Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET) of 40% by 2025 – with renewable energy having delivered 44.6% of Victoria’s electricity generation last year and well on our way to achieving our next targets of 65 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030, and 95 per cent by 2035,
- energy storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035,
- offshore wind targets of at least 2 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2032, 4 gigawatts by 2035 and 9 gigawatts by 2040.
What is clear is that the Government has a plan for the future and the Opposition is unable to move on from the stale, unreliable plans of the past.
Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP
Minister for Climate Action
Minister for Energy and Resources
Minister for the State Electricity Commission